


A Promise Before The Playground

by doncasterly



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Children, Gen, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-31
Updated: 2012-12-31
Packaged: 2017-11-23 04:01:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/617863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doncasterly/pseuds/doncasterly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall is five. Zayn is seven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Promise Before The Playground

Niall toddled, hurriedly making his way to the sand box. It was his very favorite part about recess and one of his very favorite parts of the day (besides lunch and snack time). He fell into the dirt, gathering and scooping sand, eager to start building. The collective noise from the other children faded away as he molded and sculpted, completely absorbed in his work. A few pats here, a couple of piles there, and he was finished, task completed.

He sat back, admiring his work, when he caught someone staring. It was one of the kids from the second grade class. He was older, with black hair and dark eyes, and he looked lonely and sad, having no one to play with. Niall pouted, feeling sorry, and he squinted in the sunlight, hoping to make eye contact. He did and the older boy looked away, embarrassed.

"Hey!" Niall called, waving. "You wanna play?"

The boy didn't respond. Instead, he looked left and right, obviously uncomfortable, before focusing his attention on Niall. A deep blush settled in his cheeks as he nodded slowly, taking long, careful steps. After what felt like forever, the boy reached the front of the sand box, sitting down with a soft grunt, gathering sand in his palm, watching it blow away with the wind. "Um," he started, barely audible, "Do you...really want to play with me?"

"Yeah, you looked sad. I don't like sad people."

Niall shrugged, digging into the dirt, scraping some into another small pile, and began work on a second hill, patting and scooping every other moment. The older boy fidgeted, a small "oh" escaping his lips. He looked to the ground, lost in thought, and he found himself smiling, an idea forming in his head. "If...If I were happy," he began, cupping dirt in his hands, rolling it into a ball, "Would you like me?"

Niall nodded, bopping his head to an imaginary beat, and the boy laughed, imitating him. The two began humming a random, nonsensical melody, throwing words together, adding to their song like the piles of sand to make their hill, and when the bell rang, shaking them out of their world, they were obviously disappointed. "I don't wanna go," Niall pouted, standing up and brushing sand off of him, "This is the best day of my life."

"Mine, too."

The older boy was smiling bright, cheeks red from the heat, hair windswept every way, and Niall fell in love right then and there. He reached for the boy's hand, locking their dirty, dusty fingers together, a promise before the playground. "We're friends now, okay? Forever."

"I like that. I'm Zayn."

"Niall."

They stood there as long as they could, only moving when their respective groups started to leave. Niall stumbled, keeping his eyes on Zayn the entire time, until he could no longer see him, and a dull ache settled in his chest, only to be quickly replaced with the faint flutter of butterflies. Suddenly, he couldn't wait for school the next day.


End file.
